Dissertation: “Chatter, Reverberation, and the Static in the System: Noise in American Cinema Culture.”

Abstract: This work investigates the role of noise in American motion picture culture from the early stages of film exhibition in the late nineteenth century up through the twenty-first century, with modes of mobile viewing.

Given annually for outstanding dissertation submitted to the international organization of film and media scholars. Awarded at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference in Atlanta, GA, April 2016.

Finalist, The Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Advising Award, 2016.

This award recognizes a faculty member in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences who has demonstrated a dedication to undergraduates and their education though excellence in advising.

Finalist, The Johns Hopkins University Excellence in Teaching Award, two consecutive years - 2012 and 2013.

This award recognizes a faculty member in the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences for excellence in teaching. Nominees are honored for “their enthusiasm in the classroom, interest in their students, and ability to teach complex and difficult information."

Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha of Maryland Chapter, inducted 2003

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Johns Hopkins Arts Innovation Grant ($3,000), 2017-2018, awarded to Meredith Ward as a Faculty Grant to continue to build Studio North, JHU’s only film production company. Meredith founded this organization in 2014.

Arranged a partnership with the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund in Media to foster Studio North. This partnership involves an additional $10,000 in funding to the organization per year, for the development of additional films and web series, as well as continued outreach to speakers in the profession and the creation of student workshops with industry professionals.

“Songs of the Sonic Body: Noise, the Audience, and Early Moving Pictures.” Presented forty-five-minute talk at the Chicago Film Seminar as a graduate student speaker in a season of lectures by nationally and internationally known film scholars. Response by James Lastra of the University of Chicago. February 2008.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

As Presenter

“Old Models in Listening with Dolby Atmos: Extra-Cinematic Models and the Rise of 21st Century Surround Sound.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2018. Toronto, Canada. March 2018.

“The Architect, the Listener, and the Similarity Between Sound Cultures: Nineteenth-Century Opera and Cinema With the Shift to Film Sound.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2017. Chicago, Illinois. March 2017.

“The Prostitute’s Laughter :Promiscuous Sound and the Rhetoric of Self-Control in Early Moving Pictures.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2007. Chicago. March 2007.

“The Prostitute’s Laughter: Promiscuous Sound and the Rhetoric of Self-Control in Early Moving Pictures.” Studies in Sound: Listening in the Age of Visual Culture. Iowa City, Iowa. February 2007.

“Home(s) of the Seventh Art: Social Spectatorship and the Home Theater.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2006. Vancouver, Canada. March 2006.

“Songs of the Sonic Body.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2005. London, England. March 2005.

As Organizer and Presenter

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conferences

Envisioned and organized “Widening the Soundscape: Film Sound Beyond the Text,” panel, an interventionist panel on sound studies for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2017. Chicago, Illinois. March 2017.

Envisioned and organized “Pedagogy Beyond the Podium: Teaching With 21stCentury Technologies,” a workshop on the use of digital teaching technologies for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2016. Atlanta, Georgia. March 2016.

Lecturer, Film and Media Studies Program, The Johns Hopkins University, 2008-present, with experience teaching critical studies and media making courses, including introduction to cinema, film theory, film history, cultural theory and popular culture, television and internet studies, gender theory and the study of sexuality, critical race theory, film and philosophy, film production, the production of sound art, and sound studies.

Courses designed and taught for Film and Media Studies:

AS 061.140 Introduction to Cinema, Part I (1890-1940) (based in part on pre-existing syllabus by Linda DeLibero)

AS 061.141 Introduction to Cinema, Part II (1940-present)

AS 061.245 Introduction to Film Theory

AS 061.255 Analyzing Popular Culture (a critical theory and popular culture course)

AS 061.342 Going “On the Road:” The Road Movie (co-designed and taught with Linda DeLibero)

AS 061.344 The Viewers in the Dark: One Hundred Years of Cinephilia from Lumiere to Tsai Ming-Liang (a course on the theory and practice of cinephilia)

AS 061.352 Media Workshop: Theory and Practice (co-designed and taught with Matthew Porterfield)

AS 061.370 Theorizing Popular Culture (a critical theory and popular culture course)

AS 061.386 Sundance Film Festival Practicum (co-taught with Linda DeLibero)

AS 061.391 Love and Film (a philosophy of love course as applied to film)

AS 061.395: Film Programming Workshop

AS 061.405 Deep Listening: Sound Studies in Film and Media (a sound studies and media course)

Affiliated faculty for the Johns Hopkins Graduate Center for Advanced Media Studies. The Center is designed to educate and enable media-based research among Ph.D. students at JHU. 2016-present. Taught Mediated Listening for CAMS, spring 2016, with new course on Media Historiography in development for 2018.

Served as a dissertation committee member for CAMS Fellow Daniel Schwartz, 2016.

Advised on multiple graduate students’ projects as unofficial advisor and specialist in film and sound studies.

Courses designed for the Center for Advanced Media Studies:

AS 061.600 Mediated Listening: Sound, History, Technology, Theory

Previous positions

Lecturer, Northwestern University School of Continuing Studies, 2007-2008.

Member of the Johns Hopkins Excellence in Academic Advising task force, Collaboration and Communication Committee. University-wide project analyzing popular methods for academic advising as well as prominent platforms and interfaces. Task force will deliver a report to the university in 2020. Served December 2018-present.

Extracurricular

Member of the Johns Hopkins Career Center’s Arts, Media, and Marketing Academy Advisory Committee. Advised on events and programming. January 2018-present.

Member and A/V technical consultant, Johns Hopkins Shriver Hall Auditorium Renovation advisory committee. Advised on the renovation of JHU’s flagship auditorium, providing technical specifications for the space’s new audio-visual projection systems as well as serving on general advisory committee. December 2017-present.

Repeated open house invited lecturer, JHU SOHOP (Spring Open House Overnight Program), invitation based upon current student votes for outstanding lecturers.

Personally recruited major players in the media industry and programmed and facilitated ten high-profile visits involving public Q&As about film craft and lead weekend-long workshops with JHU Film and Media Studies students as well as students from the Baltimore School for the Arts. Guests included Zack Bornstein, former Saturday Night Live staff writer; Bradford Young, Academy Award-nominated cinematographer; Larry Doyle, former Simpsons staff writer; Terence Nance, writer/director and HBO television show creator; Jon Pollack, television writer and producer; Allen Cordell, music video director; Sarah Salovaara, web series creator; and Christine Vachon, independent film producer. April 2018-present.

Creative and Administrative Director of the Johns Hopkins High School Film Contest and Festival. Currently in the process of creating an infrastructure for, budgeting, programming, and staffing a new competitive film festival to encourage the work of high school students across the country, to be screened at the Parkway Theater in Baltimore in June 2018. The weekend also offers workshops with major industry players, for the benefit of the high schoolers. Position held from October 2017-present.

Creator of and Faculty Advisor/Studio Head for the otherwise student-run film production company Studio North, a grant-giving organization, screenwriting workshop, production workshop, and speaker series enabling student filmmaking at JHU. Meredith supervises their ongoing efforts to build film culture, and oversees their operations, as well as spearheading new initiatives herself. Since 2014, Meredith has grown the annual budget from $3,000 to approximately $12,000 through grants and partnerships. In 2017, she co-founded and ran The Writers Room, a Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund-funded television writers room for undergraduates, designed to give them an accurate experience of the industry, complete with industry mentors. Studio North has been active from 2014-the present.

Designer and Creative Director of the Studio North/Saul Zaentz Fund Writers Room. Secured Guest Writers Zachary Bornstein (Emmy-nominated Staff Writer for Saturday Night Live)and Luke Kelly-Clyne (Director of Development at Big Breakfast and creator of multiple television shows). Meredith designs and oversees two master class weekends with the Guest Writers, as well as all production of a full season of a new television show. Meredith also functions as a showrunner for the series. July 2017-present. It is projected that the Writers Room will continue into future years.

Organized lecture, Q&A, and Master Class with Amazon Original Series I Love Dick co-creator and showrunner, screenwriter, and playwright Sarah Gubbins for JHU Film and Media Studies. October 2017. Meredith solicited this visit and arranged it, planned the curriculum in collaboration with Sarah, and selected the master class participants.

JHU Film Society Faculty Advisor, 2009-2018. Trained students in film programming, 35mm film projection, and how to run a film festival, along with grant writing and budgeting. Grew the group from five to fifty members.

Saul Zaentz Forum for the Moving Image – an ongoing collaboration between JHU and the Baltimore School for the Arts designed to enhance the life of the arts in Baltimore, as well as for the student populations of both schools. Facilitator for JHU Film and Media Studies, spring 2018-present and partner to the Saul Zaentz Fund for Innovation in Film and Media, spring 2018-present.

Spearheading an ongoing collaboration between Johns Hopkins Film and Media Studies and the Charles C. Baum Film and Visual Storytelling Department at the Baltimore School for the Arts. Results include regular meet-ups between JHU and BSA students, and a joint series of speaker events and creative workshops and master classes. This program is designed to benefit both JHU students and BSA students interested in film and media creation. Fall 2017-present. Leadership role accepted April 2018, continuing into the present.

Participant, Thought Partner Conversation. Young Audiences/Arts for Learning: Maryland Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. January 24, 2019.

Lecturer and panel participant, Professional Development in Film and Media. Bloomberg Arts Internship Program. The Parkway Theatre, July 2018.

Lecturer and panel participant, Professional Development in Film and Media. Bloomberg Arts Internship Program. The Parkway Theatre, July 2017.

Lecturer and panel participant, How to Succeed in College, for Brooklyn Preparatory High School students at The Johns Hopkins University, April 2017.

WORK IN FILM PRODUCTION & SCREENWRITING

Writer and co-producer. Ruthie. Short film. Dir. Brian Cagle. Qualified for final round of consideration for Cannes International Film Festival Student Program. 2006.

The Farm and Other Wonders. Multi-media novel including sound recordings. In Progress, 2017-present.

PROFESSIONALEXPERIENCE

Brainstorming Committee Member, Howard Hughes Corporation on the Arts and Technology Meeting on Planned New Initiatives for the Downtown Sector in Columbia, MD. The Committee is comprised of select professionals within the art and technology fields. HHC is entrusted with creating an arts and entertainment district in Columbia, as well as executing the Master Plan for downtown. August 2017.

Film Programming Committee Member, Johns Hopkins/MICA Film Centre, with the Maryland Film Festival, 2015-2016

About Meredith

Dr. Meredith C. Ward is a generalist in the arena of film and media, and a specialist in the joint areas of media historiography and sound studies. She received her Ph.D from the Screen Cultures Program at Northwestern University in 2015. Her dissertation, Chatter, Reverberation, and the Static in the System: Noise in American Cinema Culture" won the 2016 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Dissertation Award for the best dissertation submitted to the international organization for film and media scholars.

Her first book, Static in the System: Noise and the Soundscape of American Cinema Culture, was published by the University of California Press. Her second book, Sound Convergence: Listening to Twenty-First Century Media, is currently in progress.

Dr. Ward's interests include cultural history as it relates to film, sound theory, analysis, and aural culture, and the history of film reception. She has presented at conferences in the United States and Europe, and was a guest speaker at the Chicago Film Seminar. Her work has been included in multiple annual meetings of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, and the annual Screen conference in Glasgow.

Her work has been published in the journals Music, Sound, and the Moving Image and Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, as well as the Oxford Handbook for Cinematic Listening and other edited collections.

She is affiliated faculty for the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced Media Studies: the JHU division that awards media certificates to humanities Ph.D. students who do extensive research in film and media. Dr. Ward teaches in this program as well.

Dr. Ward teaches on film theory, cultural theory, and the "moving image" as it is broadly defined, including cinema and popular culture, television and internet culture. She also teaches sound studies courses for the undergraduates and graduate populations. With her colleague Matthew Porterfield, she teaches a theory and practice filmmaking course. Her courses include Intro. to Cinema I and II; Theorizing Popular Culture, an upper-level seminar on the interactions between cultural theory and popular culture; Love and Film, a course on the "philosophy of love" as it applies to film as an art form; a Film Theory course based on the notion of passionate engagement with cinema's basic questions; a course on the history and practice of cinephilia; and "Mediated Listening" and "Deep Listening," courses on sound and media for undergraduates and graduates, respectively.

She is the faculty advisor to the Johns Hopkins Film Society, and advises on their annual Johns Hopkins Film Festival. She is also the founder of and faculty advisor to Studio North, JHU's own student-run film production company that funds prestigious student projects. She is the founding Creative Director of the television Writers Room at Johns Hopkins and the Administrative Director of the Johns Hopkins Film Festival for High School Students.

She has served as an advisor to Woodrow Wilson fellows, PURA grant recipients, Arts Innovation Grant recipients, Women and Gender Studies grant recipients, and students writing senior humanities theses.

She was a finalist for the 2012 and 2013 Excellence in Teaching Awards, and the 2016 Undergraduate Advising Award.

Publications

PUBLICATIONS

Meredith C. Ward’s book manuscript, The Static in the System: Noise and the Soundscape of American Motion Picture Culture, will be released in February 2019 by University of California Press.

Current book projects

Meredith C. Ward's dissertation, "Chatter, Reverberation, and the Static in the System: Noise in American Cinema Culture" won the Dissertation Award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies in 2016. The award recognizes the best dissertation submitted to the international professional organization for cinema and media scholars.

Approaching noise through its effects on four areas of American cinema culture – the social, technological, acoustical, and aesthetic – in four key historical moments, this dissertation demonstrates that listening to noise can explain conflicts in the history of film sound and audiences. Examples include silencing the social noise of rowdy spectators during the nickelodeon period; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s attempt to compete with Bell Laboratories with technological, noise-based research during film’s transition to sound; the rise of acoustical design in film theaters to quash noise and produce contemplative listening in film spectators; and the user’s current navigation of her attention between the sounds of media and urban life while viewing films on smartphones. In each case, the presence of noise has produced tensions that reveal the power structure of film culture. Terming sound “noise” is an act of judgment that has social ramifications, and the struggle against noise is also a struggle between groups vying for power within cinema culture: conflict over who may determine whose sound is “noise”; competition between industries regarding who owns sound knowledge; debates about which sounds are “noise” and which are legitimate components of the cinema experience; and tensions between our established expectations of noisy public space and the ways in which we create quiet spheres via mobile listening. Looking to the aural historical dialogues in which cinema culture partook, this project outlines the conditions of possibility within which listening to the cinema emerged in these periods. Understanding these historical contexts, we can attend to the powerful, complex, and evolving relationship between American auditory culture and cinema’s noise from the nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries, from the early cinema to the mobile era.

The book will be released in February 2019 by the University of California Press.

Dr. Ward is currently at work on her second book project, called Listening Convergence: Sound and Twenty-First Century Media. This book focuses on the mutual imbrication of traditional modes of listening in the era of multi-platform sound media.

Teaching

Meredith is a dedicated teacher with a deep personal commitment to pedagogical theory. She teaches in multiple environments, ranging from lecture-style courses to highly creative learning environments. Encouraging a spirit of encounter, she creates dynamic learning environments that serve as jumping-off points for ongoing engagement with the matters they discuss.

Meredith is also engaged with new trends in pedagogy enabled by digital tools, ranging from Panopto video recording to the use of the Internet as a teaching forum. In 2016, she organized and chaired a workshop at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference on how to use digital tools in the classroom. The workshop included Meredith, Dr. Brendan Kredell (Oakland University), Dr. Nicole Cooke (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Miriam Sweeney (University of Alabama), and Dr. Miriam Posner (University of California, Los Angeles). It covered topics ranging from how to achieve deep dialogue in an online format to the integration of the digital humanities at the university.

Meredith has been lucky enough to design and execute many of her own original courses in her teaching position, including:

a Film Theory seminar based in the theory from the early 1910s through the 1990s, covering the fundamental questions theorists have asked about the medium

"Love and Film," a course combining extensive reading in the philosophy of love from Plato on, with application to the history of cinema

"The Watchers in the dark," a theory and practice course on the history of cinephilia in the United States and Europe

Theorizing Popular Culture, a course crafting a fusion between critical theory and the popular culture of the 1950s-today. Students read from each of the major schools of thought on the topic of popular culture, ranging from the Culture and Civilization tradition to hegemony theory and postmodernism.

"On the Road," an American studies focused upper level seminar on the practice of "hitting the road" in American cinema

a film production course that is a hybrid with film theory, "Media Workshop: Theory and Practice," in which students read film theory and create original work inspired by the questions the theory raises. Reading Eisenstein, students produce a montage exercise. Reading Brakhage, they produce a first-person lyrical film. This course is designed and taught in collaboration with Meredith's colleague, filmmaker Matt Porterfield.

Meredith has also designed sound studies courses for both the graduate and undergraduate populations at JHU. The graduate course, "Mediated Listening: Sound, History, Technology, and Theory," covers the approach the humanities have taken in regard to sound. The undergraduate one, "Deep Listening: Sound Studies in Film and Media," teaches listening practice and theory in film, television, sound art, and lived soundscapes.

She also has extensive experience teaching Introduction to Cinema I (1890-1940) and II (1940-present).

She also extends her commitment to teaching to initiatives and activities outside the classroom, including creating and supervising student activities such as a student-run film production company, film and media programming, and a television writers room for undergraduates.

Meredith is affiliated faculty for the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced Media Studies, where she teaches Ph.D. students.

She was twice a finalist for her university's top teaching prize - the Excellence in Teaching Award - in 2012 and 2013. In 2016, she was a finalist for the Undergraduate Advising Award.

“The Prostitute’s Laughter: Promiscuous Sound and the Rhetoric of Self-Control in Early Moving Pictures.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2007. Chicago. March 2007.

“The Prostitute’s Laughter: Promiscuous Sound and the Rhetoric of Self-Control in Early Moving Pictures.” Studies in Sound: Listening in the Age of Visual Culture. Iowa City, Iowa. February 2007.

“Home(s) of the Seventh Art: Social Spectatorship and the Home Theater.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2006. Vancouver, Canada. March 2006.

“Songs of the Sonic Body.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2005. London, England. March 2005.

As Organizer and Presenter

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conferences

“Widening the Soundscape: Film Sound Beyond the Text,” panel, Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2017. Chicago, Illinois. Accepted for March 2017.

“Pedagogy Beyond the Podium: Teaching With 21st Century Technologies,” Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2016. Atlanta, Georgia. March 2016.

Symposia Planned

In addition to presentations at conferences and teaching, Meredith has organized several events designed to promote sound scholarship in media. In 2016, she envisioned, designed, programmed, and executed a two-day symposium on sound in media, called "Listening In: A Sound Symposium," sponsored by the JHU Center for Advanced Media Studies.

"LISTENING IN: A SOUND SYMPOSIUM"

SPONSORED BY THE JHU CENTER FOR ADVANCED MEDIA STUDIES

with support from JHU FILM AND MEDIA STUDIES

MAY 5th and 6th, 2016

Program of Events

Thursday, 8pm

MATMOS

Experimental electronic music duo Matmos performs in the Mudd Auditorium @ JHU. Doors open at 7:30pm. The show is free.

The full schedule and details can be found here: https://listeninginsoundstudies.net

University Service

Meredith is strongly committed to the creation of film culture on campus. In this vein, she revamped the Johns Hopkins Film Society, teaching budgeting, grant writing, and film programming skills, in addition to 35mm film projection. She continues her work as a film programmer - begun in 2004 at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art in Evanston, Illinois - as a part of the new filmmaker speaker series at 10 E. North Avenue in Baltimore. The project is a joint venture of JHU Film and Media Studies, the Maryland Institute College of Art's Film and Video Program, and the Maryland Film Festival. She also assists the JHU Film Society in the yearly sunmission review, selection, and planning of the Johns Hopkins Film Festival.

In 2014, with the help of the Johns Hopkins Homewood Arts Programs and the JHU Film and Media Studies Program, Meredith innovated a new film studio for the JHU campus: Studio North. Funded by donations and grants, it exists to fund, oversee, and promote quality student filmmaking at Johns Hopkins. The Studio funds and oversees two films per academic year. It also pre-professionalizes students by giving them opportunities to interact with industry workers who can offer advice and guidance as students move through their undergraduate education. Studio North sponsors alumni-student meet-ups, internship and job help, and a Screenwriters Workshop.

In 2017, with the help of the Saul Zaentz Fund for Innovation in Film and Media, Meredith designed and began The Writers’ Room, a fully functional television writers room or undergraduate students. This Room did three boot camp weekends with Guest Writers: industry professionals such as Zack Bernstein (Saturday Night Live), Luke Kelly-Clyne (Director of Development, Big Breakfast LLC) and Sarah Gubbins (co-creator and show runner, I Love Dick). In 2017-2018, the Writers’ Room created full script for two web series. Eight undergraduates were selected for this elite group, and Meredith was in charge of them.

Meredith also serves in several capacities to enable film programming and technical education on JHU's campuses.

Right now, Meredith is engaged in more outreach than ever before, working in collaboration with the Baltimore School for the Arts to program events that serve both the JHU and BSA student populations.

Find out more about Studio North here: www.studionorthmd.com

here: https://www.facebook.com/studionorthmd/

and read an article on it from THE HUB here: https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/04/26/studio-north-film-premiere/

See more about The Writers Room here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/241625913060335/

And read an article on it from THE HUB here: https://hub.jhu.edu/2018/06/04/hopkins-tv-writers-room/

Examples of Teaching

Because I am committed to teaching courses that not only educate but engage, I have many assignments that produce work outside of papers. Sound blogs and sound walks will be compiled here. In the days to come, an archive will be completed that may be accessed here.

Advice for Students

Keep an eye on here for advice on how to write a killer film paper, how to get and succeed at an internship, and how to leave college ready for the next phase of your life. Postings will be complete by late January.

Internships. You hear a lot about them. So why should you do an internship? Because increasingly, you can’t get a job in your desired field without at least one relevant internship under your belt. It proves that you have relevant skills. It shows that you know how to work in the industry you want to join upon graduating. And it shows that an organization other than your university has vetted you.

What does an internship do for you?

First, of course, is real world experience in your chosen field. This takes your experience level from hypothetical to concrete. It makes all the difference in the world when it comes to hireability.

It increases your chances of beginning your career at a meaningful place when you graduate.

At times, an internship can blossom into a full-time job at the same institution.

It expands your contacts. Networking is a strong, clear reason to do several internships.

Here is your internship guide. Let’s start at the very beginning…

Advice for newbies who haven’t had an internship yet:

Make your presence felt online. Make certain that it’s positive, not negative.

Have LinkedIn profile.

Be aware of your online presence. Google yourself, and see what pops up. Be sure it’s what you want to pop up.

Curate your online presence. Consider having a web page of your own where you bring all relevant details about yourself together.

Blog about what interests you. It shows that you are going the extra step and making what interests you something that you are also already doing.

Participate in the online life of the companies to whom you are applying. Interested in a particular place? Like it on Facebook, and join its fan communities.

Interact with the company online. Tweet at them. Be a part of a fan community. Follow them on social media. Etc. This will give you an edge, and raise your profile.

Know the business you intend to apply to. Know what they do. Have a clear preference and be able to give reasons for why you believe you are the best choice for those areas. But be sure to have several in your pocket as backups, as well. You want to be versatile, and good for whatever they need. But a top choice and runner up show that you know your stuff, and have done your research.

From Wikijob’s guide to getting internships:

“Employers like to see that applicants have done their research and can explain why they are interested in a career in their particular sector. Academic qualifications alone will probably not be enough to get you an internship; it is important to show you have an aptitude for business, enthusiasm for the industry you are applying to and strong general, as well as industry specific, commercial awareness.”

And other advice:

Read Deadline, Hollywood Insider, and Variety.

Attend networking events and talks.

Make the most of your university’s career center and alumni connections. At our university, we have an ongoing record of where our students have interned. This sort of document can be extremely useful to you, as it allows you to connect with others who have worked in the companies you’d like to work at.

Networking:

Yes, this is a real thing. When you are interested in a company, make it known to your general circle (faculty, staff, friends and family). A connection of any kind is always a help. If you are not certain if you know anyone who might be helpful, feel free to check on social media.

LinkedIn can also show you these connections. Know someone who knows someone? Feel free to ask them if they will put in a good word for you! It never hurts to try.

Application Deadlines

When are applications due? The application deadline for many internships is the end of January, but some are earlier. It is a good idea to apply early for internships; if recruiters receive many good applications very early, they may offer, and fill, positions before the final application deadline. Don’t leave your applications too late. You could miss out on a great opportunity just because you snoozed.

Internship Interviews

In preparation for the interview/how to get the interview

Your resume

Make sure you have a strong resume. Visit the Career Center for advice.

Don’t waste space with high school activities. You should have relevant experience from college; list that.

Use active language. Describe what skills you gained from each experience.

Show, don’t tell. Give concrete examples.

If you make things/write things/etc, include links to your work.

Cover letters

Longer is not better. Keep it concise.

Focus on them and what they want.

A mediocre cover letter

A well written cover letter focuses on the company, what they’re looking for, and how you are a fit for just that. It shows that you know the business, understand what they are looking for, and could be a perfect fit for it. A poorly written cover letter communicates the following information:

Note: If you are unable to obtain the name of hiring managers, then address them by their title or as the "hiring manager." You can also use:

•Dear Human Resources Director:

•Dear Hiring Manager:

•Dear Selection Committee:

•Dear Search Committee:

1.The first paragraph should say who you are, where you go to school, what the job is that you’re applying for and how you came to apply. It helps a lot if you can include a name of someone with a personal connection. You should also clarify where you’re located geographically. If the internship is in a city other than where you live or go to school, say you are planning to be there during the dates of the job. Don’t say you “could” be there. “If the student shows hesitation, that translates to ambivalence about whether they want the job,” says Berger.

Better yet: “Lucy McGillicutty, who interned at Frankenheimeir Public Relations last summer, suggested I apply for your internship program.” All job seekers, even college freshmen, should have a LinkedIn profile, which can be a great place to discover whether you know someone connected to the company where you want to work.

2.The second paragraph has to connect the dots between you and the employer. Before you write it, print out the job posting and go through it with a highlighter. Note the buzzwords and incorporate them into this part of the letter. Also spend at least an hour on the company site reading and thinking, including clicking through every link. If the firm has a blog, read at least a dozen entries. Check out the firm’s presence on social media and do a wide-ranging Google search. Describe how your experiences meet the challenges presented in the job description. If you’re a college freshman, it’s fine to evoke experience you gained in high school. Example: “I see you’re looking for a self-starter with social media skills. I ran a Facebook page that successfully recruited musicians for a student-produced musical. I conducted auditions, organized rehearsals and arranged the score.” Or: “I see you’re looking for someone who has the ability to multitask while staying organized and being efficient. When I worked at Frank’s Bicycles I juggled a demanding backlog of deadline-sensitive repairs with the responsibility of staffing the counter and waiting on customers.”

3.In the third paragraph, further describe your personal traits and how they make you a great candidate for the job. You’re cooperative, work well with others, you have a great work ethic. Again, give short but specific examples of those skills. Katharine Brooks, executive director of the campus career placement office at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and author of You Majored in What?: Mapping Your Path from Chaos to Career, says you should try to tell one- or two-line stories about yourself that show how your skills match the job and expand upon the job descriptions in your résumés. Example: “I worked on a team of interns for the successful political campaign of city councilwoman Mary Smith where we organized events and then staffed them, sometimes until 1 A.M.” Or: “When I was working at Frank’s Bicycles, I helped a client who was looking for a Dahon folding bike, which the store didn’t stock. Within an hour I found a distributor willing to make a one-time delivery of the bike the customer wanted.”

Researching the business

Know the business inside out

Look at the company’s recent work. Know it well, and be able to speak about it concisely and in an intelligent and interesting manner. Make them remember you for what you can contribute! Your judgment about their product is one place to start (but remember, also, to be positive about it, of course).

Some more innovative companies will say, “Take a look at some of our recent work and tell us what you think about it.” Google is known for doing things like this in their pre-interview vetting.

Practice makes perfect

Practice answering questions in whatever format you will be asked them by the interviewer. Telephone, Skype, etc. – you don’t want the interview to be the first time you’re negotiating this.

If you’re Skyping, be on fifteen minutes prior to your interview time. Something could always come up. Make sure you’re in a quiet place for a remote interview, without distractions (dogs, roommates, etc.) No coffee shops (have you seen Master of None? Yeah, don’t do what Aziz did.)

The interview itself

Know your interviewer. Understand his/her job, so you can speak to him/her knowledgeably. Know their work, if possible. Google him/her. Google the job title. If you know anyone with this job title, ask him/her what it’s like to do the job. Come well armed with information and understanding to your interview.

Recruiters want to know that you are enthusiastic. They want you to be motivated to work in this particular industry, and in this particular job. It is absolutely imperative that you research what you will be doing in the position you are applying for. Recruiters frequently ask questions or give tasks such as these:

•What do you think you would do as an [job role]?

•Describe the morning of a typical day as [job role].

Recruiters are looking for accurate understanding of the job. Your answers need to show this. They should also showcase what personal skills and attributes you have that would make you excellent in the position. What makes you uniquely qualified? Try to work that in. Such as, “I recognize that these skills are required in this position. Having [x] in my background, I know I can mobilize my experience to do [y] (the task at hand). Try to steer questions in this direction whenever possible, to make the connection between your skills and the job.

Whatever you say about yourself - if you claim you have certain skills, experience, or talents – always be able to back it up. Never exaggerate beyond the truth. Present yourself confidently and accurately. During the interview, to make it clear that you are the actual right candidate, tell a story that shows how you in fact have these skills, talents, and experiences. Make it clear you are ready to get started with the next phase by building on these experiences. Have anecdotes prepared for the main attributes you state yourself to have in your cover letter.

Thank your interviewer. Write a thank you email to follow up within 24 hours.

Questions you should ask your interviewer

Too many students mess this up. Don’t say “no” when they ask if you have any questions.

Questions you might like to ask your interviewer:

What qualities are they looking for in an intern?

What would a typical day at this internship entail?

What strengths have marked the most successful interns at your organization?

Got the internship? Here’s how to be effective. Make them remember you.

Introduce yourself. Be friendly and direct and not afraid to put yourself forward, when it is appropriate.

Tackle each task you are given with the same enthusiasm you would bring to the choicest assignment. Each time you do anything, you prove your responsibility, maturity, and skills for the next (better) thing. Nothing is beneath you. Attack each task as if your reputation depended on it, because it does.

When you are out of things to do, ask for something else. Don’t sit around. Be enthusiastic and ready for more work. Do it as well as you possibly can. This will also make you memorable.

When you are asked questions, speak. Don’t be shy. No one will remember you if you never speak about what you are doing.

Go to office functions as appropriate.

Be willing and able to take up any task that you are suggested for. Don’t opt out of things just because you haven’t done it before/don’t know how. Ask for help, but say yes.

After the internship

Write a thank you to the organization in general. Especially your supervisors. Send a note to anyone else who was formative of your good experience. Keep in touch.

Always keep in touch with people you have worked for. Don’t let that fall by the wayside. Follow up at the end of the semester and thank everyone you worked with/for. Keep in touch periodically (hey, I saw this and thought of you!). Casually mention what you’re doing/working on/accomplishing now. You want to keep them abreast of the great things you are involved with, so their impression of you remains current, active, and positive. And then, sometime around January of your senior year, get in touch for real and see whether they might have anything for you upon graduation. Don't worry if they put you off. Still, keep in touch.